An away day at Liverpool is always huge. More so over the past half-decade. Liverpool is an institution, Anfield is a legendary stadium, and Klopp is a top 3 manager in the world.
The stage is set.
Mikel Arteta usually underplays our chances, but the talk was a little different in his press conference.
He’s talking about confidence in the camp, he’s pumping his players, and he’s making no excuses about the expectations that are being put on Arsenal.
We are going to Anfield to win because that’s what Arsenal Football Club is all about.
This game isn’t a litmus test, people need to move away from that sort of chat… it’s a chance to land a blow on a club that has standards we want to reach.
Since boxing day, we’ve accrued more points than Liverpool. What does that tell you? That they are beatable. Klopp’s side has lost a bit of that invincibility force-field this season. They aren’t quite hitting the heights as consistently as they were a couple of seasons ago. There are vulnerabilities in their system.
The main difference? Huge experience and a 5th gear that we don’t have yet. Both teams at 100% and we’re on the back foot.
So what do we need to see?
A smart game plan executed with maximum focus
Our problem against Chelsea and City was that we conceded inside 15 minutes both times. We can’t afford to do that against a Liverpool side we know will come flying out the traps.
I’d love a fast start, but it’s questionable whether that’s the right approach against Liverpool. A game right after the break might take some time to feel our way into. It might be sharp to just be in the match after 20 minutes and work our way into the game by growing with time.
There needs to be a plan for Mo Salah, the best player in the world right now. We need to have ideas for Liverpool’s wide players. We should be set up to counter-attack at speed, because Liverpool have been leaving openings. We have to play a high line and confidently play around their brutal press when it comes.
Arteta said the weakness in the side was that as a team, we don’t have enough collective experience yet. Let’s be clear, this new group of players hasn’t felt pain together yet. We are unbeaten since our new defence was formed. There’s no record of how we’ll react to a battering from Liverpool. That makes this game interesting for a whole host of reasons.
This is a big moment for the project. Lose, well, we expected it and we’ll have to hope the team can bounce back quickly. Come away with a point or more and we’ll really start to believe something might be brewing early.
I’m very excited. I feel confident we can compete. This is a test we could pass, I haven’t felt that way about a Liverpool game in a while. So let’s see where it goes.
See you in the comments. Join for an OTW podcast right after the game!
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No one should be blaming this on Arteta tonight… All the teams we are competing with lost; it was a free hit so to speak… come on chins up… let’s have Newcastle next week!
We aren’t nearly as good as them. Until we are we need to protect ourselves at all times. That is what we didn’t do right. 343 to join their fullbacks and match their strikers with our CBs would have helped keep the scoreline down. Hoping tavarez handles Salah was suicide. Because he is not at that level yet. Even experienced pros would have needed help. We can play a formation that we like at Anfield when we are good enough. That was the mistake.
Smith Rowe and Saka are both massively overrated.
Looking at the table we are still 5th and have got a game at Anfield out the way.
Positives that the Hammers and United both lost.
We only have to be the best of the rest and we will be forth
Man City 5 Arsenal 0
Liverpool 4 Arsenal 0
Mr, Arteta
THE REAL SPECIALIST IN FAILURE!
Shambles.
iQ
” Arteta is just the managerial equivalent of Elneny. With better PR. ”
Bazinga
Liverpool are a top team, one of the best in Europe, they’re an established team that’s been together a while. They started with 2 players under 25, we started with 3 players over 25, 7 who were 23 and under. Such is the nature of football, we’ll have to put up with a barrage of OTT negativity over the next week, hopefully the young team keep it together, don’t drop their heads, and take the 3 points at home to Newcastle The game wasn’t enjoyable, but there’s currently 3 teams in this league who can do that to anyone on… Read more »
Ok then .. looks like things are gonna go to shit on LG too. people start bashing Saka and ESR .. time to leave.
Can live with a defeat but the manner was dreadful. We’ll hav to see if that causes lasting damage to our confidence and we screw up at Newcastle or if we can pick it back up with 3 points next week I don’t disagree with many of the tactical ideas and selections we went into the game with but artetas in game management was overall shocking today. He doesn’t know when or how to change things when things don’t go our way. 1-0 down at first half was acceptable. But apart from bringing on AMN for lokonga who was looking… Read more »
Bergkamp
No they are not. They are very good players that struggled against a hard Liverpool team. And they are both U 21. Stop turning everything into doomsday.
Mb
Very well, and thank you for asking. I’m a lifelong Arsenal supporter, and ancient to go with it. I’ve seen everything, and we will be ok as a Club.
Horrible to lose by such a margin, but we will recover.
Well said Rich… on to the next!
Yep, this game was crying for a Martinelli to harass pool and allow the team to push forward.
Auba just doesn’t do that.
It’s pretty clear that we need an upgrade upfront. We really need someone who can create for himself.
I also think we need to get shot of Laca. He is not a long term solution.
Another reason we will never get into CL or win the league with this overrated novice. This so called project is going nowhere. Keep telling how how young the squad is and how they will “grow” together. Go on tell me. Football waits for no one. I don’t want to be Dortmund 2.0 or Man City Lite. I want to win the damn league and at least get to a CL final. Anything less is rubbish and just kicking the can down the road.
This cunt is an utter failure liverpool in first gear. Fucking loser.
We are toothless upfront
Auba is just not good enough
Laca and Saka are too lightweight and fall down with the slightest touch
Midfield can’t hold a decent press
Stupid negative tactics didn’t save our faces, if it wasn’t for Ramsda heroics could have been double figures
Eddie and Martinelle can’t do worse than them old pair we have upfront!
We only managed to score 13 goals FFS
Another night to forget at scouseland!
Midwest
That was what I feared when I suggested the 343. Now we will have to work hard to get our confidence back. It is hard to switch on your form. A 2 nil loss would have been easier to forget. We are young and we will learn. 25 and 26 year olds if this same team will do much better than today. We just have to water our plants.
Bergkamp10 trolling ya’ll don’t take the bait.
Over 100 matches in and team still struggles to attack
Awful display from Tommy Partey.and Lokonga. No Xhaka red to use as a crutch.
If we can’t trust Ødegaard to step in when Smith Rowe and Saka drop 2/10 performances, what’s the point of shelling out 35m?
Arsenal were garbage last time out against Watford- so you can’t seriously expect them to do what Brighton and West Ham have recently done…….score 2 or 3 goals respectively against them.
Utter bloody shambles, the whole bloody lot of it.
And don’ t even get me started on the cheating English rugby team.
Utterly pathetic.Not just predictable which it was or poor. Arteta is clueless. Pathetic and not competitive.
The players and the team we had were capable of doing far more. Arteta is only able to beat poor sides. Brighton did far better than we did.
Sack Arteta.
It’s now 3:30am. My wife told me not to be an idiot and stay up for the game.
Every damned time I stay up for a late game they let me down.
Thanks.
Unfortunately, there is no timeout in football. The team needed to calm down after they scored. We were not the same team after that. I prefer to have the GK or a defender as captain. He would be there to talk to the players when the game is getting out of hand. Auba was high up the pitch when the defense was collapsing.
By the way, ben white is fucking shite. Couldn’t pass a turd today.
Disagree, Habesha formation would have made no differnce. for me. Might have made it worse. It was our players arent as good not the formation 3-4-3 is bascially a 5-2-3.. we were bad enough in the midfield. we didn’t get beat on the wings..so much. We got beat by mistakes and lack of quality. But anyhow.. Usually I agree with you mostly when you suggest tactics. I usually just say yep.. when I read you posts. Differnce of opinion this time around is all. I guess.
5th place with a -4 GD. We are brilliant
Playing with Auber is like playing with 10 men. His combination of not showing for the ball and terrible ball retention puts so much pressure on the rest of the team. Especially the central midfield today. Auber needs to be replaced.
I would rather lose in that fashion with 90% of kids that to lose with grown men that play like kids. Lots of work to do and its not the Apocalypse in footballing terms. Tavares and Sambi had a bad game but they will learn.
I Love Arsenal and thats all that Fucking Matters.
We will rise Again.
Very disappointing result and we were clearly outclassed. Not going to jump back on the Arteta out train though. Let’s see if we can regain our confidence and form in our next 3. Everton and Man U away will be real tests of this squad.
Main concern is that there seems to be a leadership vacuum. Partey is not vocal enough. His personality doesn’t suit a leadership role. Shockingly, Xhaka might have helped today although this should probably go down as just another annual trouncing at Anfield.
Wh the need for us to get the 4th and CL next season? Only so more top teams can spank us?
I don’t think even a fully fit Partey or Tierney would have made a difference today. Liverpool just miles better at his point. Maybe the addition of a Bissouma and more dynamic players up front like Martinelli and Ollie Watkins would make a difference. Leadership also big question with such a young squad. Auba not up to the task IMHO. The team is moving in the right direction but some holes need to be filled
If auba if will contribute so so little to the team the very least he must do is take most of his chances
His game shot getting saved at 2-0 down could’ve been pivotal. That goes in and who knows what happens next
Rich
Can’t buy into the age argument. That was the choice of the club to go in this direction. So far it has worked out. This was a step back. No excuses for age when we are a massive club who can compete financially with most of our rivals.
Bacary xhaka has been present for 90% of all the spankings we’ve taken in the last 5 years. His ‘leadership’ didn’t help then. Didn’t help in the other two spankings we took this season either.
Leadership myth.
Liverpool are one thing but let’s be clear, no excuse if we don’t beat United. We were poor today but they’ve been shocking for weeks.
The City of Liverpool. A classic example of the saying “You can’t polish a turd”. Even The Beatles had to leave 🙂
Midwest
Sure we didn’t win the midfield but the goals we conceded came from mistakes in wide areas. Pining them was the way to go. We still would have lost but it would have been with a better scoreline.
Tomi on mane, white on Jota, Gabriel on Salah, Tavarez on Tsimikas on the right, Tierney pinning TAA would have been better for us. We only had to deal with Thiago and Ox at CM after that. We still would have lost but our fullbacks wouldn’t have been as exposed and pressured too much.
Like what China1 said. Also, young players under pressure will make mistakes but Arteta’s in game management is almost non-existent. There are ways to lose without taking a beatdown. It’s not just the players that are learning their trade at Arsenal unfortunately.
@china1 so what I took from your post was that the defeat was your fault. Next time listen to your wife and head to bed early and let us have 3 points at Anfield please
We lacked a focal point in attack and it was something else that hurt us badly.
Time to throw the baby out with the bath water?
Nope.
Plenty of good things to be pleased about in the past 10 games.
One loss doesn’t change that for me.
We move on and support the team.
Liverpool stepped up a level in second half.
Now all the cretins come out. Yes, we lost, and badly. I know. It does not negate all the positives from the previous 8 matches. People blaming Arteta of course we all expect that. I don’t blame him much. He didn’t make those errors by Sambi and Nuno… but he did pick them. Attacking Saka and ESR shows that you are no kind of fans. Next week is big. 3 points or a major hit in confidence going forward. I wonder how the coach handles Tavares and Lokonga. I’m finding it hard to trust Sambi and he needs to correct… Read more »
Crab well we all know certain people won’t lay the blame at the managers feet so yes I’ll probably have to own this one
china1
Read the end of my comment, ffs. Please read the whole post next time.
What was that embarrasssing tough guy thing from Arteta earlier? Pathetic.
Cheer up everyone, the ‘arras is on now MVG v Miffy 🙂
At what point of the project though are we expected to at least turn up for these games without looking so scared of the opposition, I mean wasn’t expecting anything out of the game but Liverpool will always be here and so will Chelsea and City so are we just going to keep saying they’re the best team so we expected to lose like that every year and focus on the other games? We obviously can’t go toe to toe with them in terms of personnel and our young squad but a real sign of progress will always be how… Read more »
If we beat Newcastle next week this damage can be quickly undone (especially if the performance is good to boot). But if we don’t beat Newcastle we go into the Utd game with it being much more problematic.
Beat Newcastle and Utd on the other hand and today gets written off
A rude awakening for Tavares.
“It only takes a minute” seems quite appropriate.
Aubameyang is becoming more and more a liability.
Would have loved to have seen Martinelli or Eddie up top.
The slow and predictable play from the back was evident once again.
Arteta’s antics went against us big time.
Habesha-
Maybe.. big maybe. I feel like we matched up pretty well first half.. But for Me LOko and Tavares ended up showing why young players are risky. Second half they both looked overwhelmed and crumbled. So not sure thats a formation thing. Anyhow … really doesnt matter. Guess we will find out how we pick up the peices.
Just hate Pool so much.. have to listen to Carraghers bullshit now for months.
By the time we play MU, they’ll have a new manager.
13 goals in 12 games! ( and we have 1 game a week!)
Ranieri has got Watford scoring 9 in 4 games with that pack of excrement. ( 5 v Everton /4 v Man Utd)
(And how can Vieria get a 2 zero at Man City and this Arteta gets done 5 zero there?)
Granted Wenger got spanked at Anfield time to time- but he also served up some 6-3, 4-4. 1-2. 3-3, 2- 0 classics.
Utter shambles.
Also the name calling thing is pathetic and childish and stupid too. Bedwetters e.t.c. is probably one of the reasons why most have just about stayed away from this space for a bit now.
Agree G8. Why were were we so poor upfront? 4-0 better no way at all. Not of this Liverpool defence.
They would love to play us every week.
Whet a pathetic poor display.
Bacary I read the whole thing – what did I miss
You mentioned shockingly xhaka might have helped today. How? He didn’t help vs Chelsea and he actively fucked our own asses against city. Same story as in every other fisting we’ve taken in the last 5 years for which he was basically always present.
50 million pounds for Ben Shite. Let that sink in.
The main problem today was an out ball.
Add to that a poor lack of application from our final third we basically played defence v attack
As Samesong said, no one showed for the misplaced pass that Tavares made, but worse still was playing Aubameyang for 90 mins.
I’m no fan of Odegaard either, looks busy but actually does VERY little.
ESR and Saka had poor games today but I cant blame them when players like Partey cant step up and lift the team
MOTM -Aaron Ramsdale.
Could easily have been a rout ….
Tavares clearly not ready at this level.
So slack at the back and nothing up front to take
the constant pressure of us.
Tierney definitely back in next game.
The gulf is extreme.
Top 4 NO.
I think we still have a psychological problem to overcome against the big teams, the players go into the games expecting to lose, the best the hope to get is a draw. It was obvious in the first half, we sat back, hardly creating any chances, our midfielders and ben white weren’t doing the things they were doing in previous matches like carrying the ball into the opponents half, we looked and played scared. Aubameyang seems to show van dyke too much respect, I expect him to put in a few rough challenges, you saw mane doing it to tomyasu,… Read more »
When our glorious leader thinks the powder-puff lightweight Odegaard and the negative back-passing Elneny are going to improve the team then he needs certifying.
I think Pedro should give me moderation capabilities. hahaha
Anyhow… gonna go drink now. seems like the correct course of action.
You’d think Xhaka wasn’t a mainstay in the side when we’ve suffered losses. He doesn’t make a difference today.
We are not really going anywhere with this set up.
We have too many average players overpaid and really below what we need.
It’s not the loss but the repeated same old errors.
We gifted goals and are toothless upfront, nothing has changed
Nigel
How do you mean “cretins”?
So criticism can’t be made when there are visible flaws.
Are you one of those fans that gloated when Arshavin scored 4 and yet defensively we played like the Keystone Cops?
Tavares needs to learn to keep his mouth shut and let his football do the talking.
Once Arteta got the crowd going, we were always on the back foot.
Were we brave today? Did we go out looking to get something from the game?
I’m not so sure.
Majestic that’s where our more experienced players need to step up
Partey Aubameyang and Lacazette didn’t show any experienced leadership on the pitch with their poor performances
china1
I said he MIGHT have helped today vs. an inexperienced and intimidated Lokonga and could have provided some support on the left to Nuno too.
Then I said it should probably just go down as another annual spanking at Anfield.
I’m not a Xhaka fan but in this game I think he would have been an improvement over a very poor Lokonga.
Of course, Xhaka could also have got himself sent off in the 25th minute for a dumb challenge too. Again, why I said ‘might’.
Bacaryisgod We’re in the process on building a new team, we’re at the beginning of that process If you don’t think experience + cohesion is important, then you haven’t got a clue, the vast majority of successful teams/squads have an average aged of 27-28 We’ve an average age of under 25, we need to keep this core together, add well, and we’ll be fine Days like today will happen with a young team against superior opposition, we’ll still finish the weekend in 5th, it’s not enjoyable, but it’s not the end of the world either, we need cooler + calmer… Read more »
We were never going to win at Anfield but we should have shithoused a 1-0 loss
Most of our goals conceded today were caused by players making errors under pressured as they were pressed
Xhaka is realistically one of the least press resistant midfielders we have. He’s also the least mobile. What would’ve he have offered when getting swarmed?
As for leadership – well he’s a world class pointer, that much is true. No other discernible positive leadership type impacts on the pitch have ever been noticed during the absolutely countless trouncing we’ve taken with him on the pitch over the years tho
@Andy1886
I agree with you, didn’t expect anything from today’s game so not overly bothered. The next few games we’ll see if we’re destined for another 8th place finish. We should bear United, should!!
My hope is to show up to these tough venues and give these sides a game. Its the same spankings every year. Brighton came to Liverpool and got a point. Chelsea are a very good outfit but still came away with a point at Anfield with 10 men. Viera’s Palace took full points from City.
We should be able to go to these places and make more of a game of it.
Beat not bear
Bacary true he might have had a great game
So too might have el neny like he did against Man Utd at the start of last season.
Highly unlikely tho
Worryingly for me, is Aubameyangs lack of desire to be a game changer unlike say Salah who made sure he finally got on the scoresheet and even attempted to cheat and win himself a penalty.
Whoever is going after Ben White is a complete idiot too.
Liverpool conceded 8 against Villa last season with a back four of TAA, Gomez, Van Dijk and Robertson and ‘shielded’ by Fabinho and Keita. Does that make Van Dijk shit? This was a team defeat. White wasn’t even one of the weaker performers today.
Some of you deride Elneny but I bet he would have done a better job than Sambi today. The guy is technically limited but he keeps things tight and doesn’t let the occasion get to him. Still remember how he and Partey owned United when we beat them 3-0. Sambi looked totally lost today.
I tell you the difference between a real leader and winner and someone who thinks he’s a leader and a winner.
If PV4 had been in charge of that squad of players for 48 hrs, prior to the game, we’d have done far better.
Jesus, I wish we had Paddy V.
It’s got nothing to do with the players this morning, well maybe PEA needs to be put out to pasture, but the contest unravelled for The Arsenal once Arteta lost his rag. It was a piss poor example for the young players.
TR7 sambi is much more talented than el neny but you’re right that sambi had an absolute mare today whereas el neny can’t win you games but is less likely to cost you one. He provides a predictable 6.5/10 most of the time – not good enough really but that would’ve been better in hindsight than Sambi today who was terrible.
But who of us would’ve chosen el neny to start today? I certainly wouldn’t have. Hindsight is 20:20 as they say tho
For me the question is whether AMN with partey would’ve been the best choice. AMN also made some mistakes today so perhaps not, but he’s shown several times he can step up in big games. Probably would’ve been the best option in hindsight
Rich You’re totally missing the point. You can’t excuse a defeat because of the age of our players. A better excuse is that the new players are still getting to know each other and it was too soon for Anfield. I actually think Arsenal made the right decision to focus on youth in the transfer market even if they should have done it last summer instead of the Willian/Mari/Luiz/Cedric transfers and extensions. At the end of the day, I don’t want Arteta and Edu to hide behind the transfer policy to buy themselves more time. The club needs to be… Read more »
We go into these games giving these teams too much respect. Silly errors don’t help as well .. first goal was very soft, and then we gifted them too many chances at the start of the second half.
Not what we expected, but upwards and onwards. Come on you Gunners!!!
Rich
They started with 2 players under 25, we started with 3 players over 25, 7 who were 23 and under.
And ?
Midwest is a man with perspective and agree about Sambi and Nuno. Leedsgunner always is on point. I think pool deserved the respect of a formation change in the starting lineup,, and it probably would have had a better outcome to have Tierney at left of back 3, with Nuno wing back helping with Salah. No complaints from me about White or Gabriel. That’s the Ramsdale I remember from past seasons. That’s why those teams voted him player of the year. Great shot stopper. Plenty strong owning the box. Of course we never watched his distribution for bad clubs. Credit… Read more »
By the way Rich, it’s really dense of you to pop off at me for whingeing when my first comment after the match was the exact opposite of that.
Here it is as you must have skipped it:
‘Very disappointing result and we were clearly outclassed. Not going to jump back on the Arteta out train though. Let’s see if we can regain our confidence and form in our next 3. Everton and Man U away will be real tests of this squad’.
China
I would not have started Sambi for sure. If not El neny then at least AMN. Sambi is good at keep the ball moving but he really lacks defensive nous. He is also very casual at times. AMN very good in one on one situation whereas Elneny is calm and composed if not spectacular.
By the way, if it was Artetas call mainly, to bring in Aaron…. anybody here going to give him credit? Of course not.
A lot of bad performances out there and difficult to single anyone out
But……
Artetas tactics still remain hugely naive
He lost his rag which seems to have lifted them
And….
How bad does Auba need to get before MA wakes up and realises he is not capable of leading the line at Prem level
Why is Martinelli not getting game time?
Think it also emphasises that players over 30 should only have 1 year contracts. Laca is still at times an important cog but he loses energy quickly
I’m not sure he should be renewed next year
Games like today will happen for Tavares + Sambi, we didn’t buy anywhere near the finished articles Sambi was £15 Mill, Tavares £7mill, they’ve played 150 games between them, the majority of those games in Belgium + Portugal We signed rough diamonds to polish, polishing them is going to take a bit of time The idea both these players were going to come into our team and perform consistently at the highest level, straight off the bat, was completely detached from reality Confidence is a big thing with players, particularly youngsters, we need to get behind our young players in… Read more »
As much as we need a striker, we wont move with that midfield too.
Stinger of a result after very solid run Could see the danger signals in first 45, our mid looked too tentative but we battled and stayed in it. Completely caved after Tavares assisting Jota, damage control from there on out. Wasn’t bothered with the loss if the full performance was there, had we continued the first half form it would of been so much more encouraging. In the end it was modern Liverpool vs Arsneal which has been a typical beasting, names have changed from Suarez to Salah results the same. Lets hope Partey and Auba awake from their slumbers… Read more »
If we are serious we would not have AMN or Elneny anywhere near our team, they are not good enough.
I think age and experience is being over played as an excuse here We went in at half time very very much in the game. What cost us more imo was very poor in game management when the game started to slip away. Conceding goals is a slippery slope. Keeping on going when you’re still within a goal or something is one thing but when you’re playing badly and the game is very clearly slipping through your fingers in terms of both performances getting worse and goals getting conceded you have to start being proactive. We started the second half… Read more »
Arteta ball = bland
There, I used Pedro’s favourite word!
Credit? Once interest rates go up, Millennials & alike won’t have time to discuss 343, 442, climate change, Covid or stamp out racism. They’ll be too busy digging themselves out of a financial black hole 🙂
Disasters from sambi and tavares*
Dolmite, these experienced players are the problem, they have never won ar anfield, they are the ones who bring the fear factor to the matches against the big teams. Have we won a match against Liverpool and Man City in the league with auba and laca in the team?
“By the way, if it was Artetas call mainly, to bring in Aaron…. anybody here going to give him credit? Of course not”
Arteta is the manager of one of the biggest clubs in the world despite being a rookie. You want people to cheer him for getting it right on Aaron ? Is it not what he is paid for ?